Centre for Sustainability
Cities Hub Student research: How do we make cities resilient and inclusive? Inclusief Nederlandstalige samenvatting
Cities Hub 2019 Edited by Fenna Plaisier and Shivaani Harmsen Designed by Ankita Singhvi
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Foreword Cities matter. They play a key role in our society, economically and culturally, as centres for innovation, but most of all, as places to live, love, work and learn. Cities are thus treasures of our societies, but they are also championing in resource use and production of waste and emissions, way beyond the city borders. The sustainable development of cities will involve a joint effort of all parties: citizens, communities, enterprises, industry, public authorities, and knowledge institutes. In this Cities Hub magazine, our graduate students present their work on sustainable urban development. The Cities Hub aims to operate as a broker and developer of knowledge on contemporary urban sustainability challenges. The Hub aims to bring together the academics of the three universities of Leiden, Delft and Rotterdam and the stakeholders in the urban delta region where the universities are located. Calls for circular, resilient, sustainable and inclusive cities transcend disciplinary, sectoral and spatial boundaries. They need transdisciplinary learning environments in which academics and practitioners jointly identify and fill knowledge gaps. The multidisciplinary studios in which our graduate students work offer a place for interaction, analysis and reflection amongst our students, their supervisors and the stakeholders involved in the research. This magazine offers a taste of what this might bring. We hope you enjoy reading it!
Prof. dr. Ellen van Bueren Professor Urban Development Management TU Delft Chair of the Cities Hub of LDE Centre for Sustainability
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Contents Resilient city programme
6
Inclusive city programme
7
Local energy initiatives: Emmy van Gennip
8
Heat networks: Teun Verhagen and Jim van der Kooij
12
Trajectory of the energy transition: Robert Dykstra
20
Critical material cobalt: Esther van de Camp and Joanna Kotnis
24
Recycling behaviour of millenials: Kathrin Wendt
32
Green infrastructure: Nadieh Kamp and Janneke v Oorschot
36
Circular urban agriculture: Graham Browning
42
Nederlandstalige samenvattingen
46
Meet the graduates
60
About LDE Centre for Sustainability
63
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Resilient Cities Programme Cities are not just great places to live, but are also fascinating research subjects. We research how we can reduce the impact of urbanisation on our environment, within the planetary boundaries. The aim of the Resilient Cities Programme is to understand how to increase the livability of a city, as well as its capacity to deal with shocks and stresses. The Resilient Cities Programme focuses on sustainable urbanisation in three distinct yet interlinked research directions: 1. The material basis and energy transition of the city and the circular economy 2. Climate adaptation for livable cities 3. Urban ecosystems and staying within planetary boundaries We make an impact by being actively involved in tackling realworld challenges. We work extensively with a wide variety of partners, ranging from municipalities and political parties to companies and NGOs. We tackle challenges where the timeframe and complexity are such that the stakeholders’ needs are better served by a longer-term research project with a university partner. In some instances, there is a lack of data and analysis, and even the underlying methods and mathematics to be able to answer questions. On another level, results are not presented in the appropriate manner for stakeholders to use in their own policymaking processes. The latter in particular requires this long-term cooperation that we are engaging in at the hub. The students gain strong academic support and can concentrate on the needs of the stakeholders and contribute to the resilient cities project. The theses discussed in this magazine are excellent examples of this.
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Inclusive Cities Programme In the inclusive Cities Programme, we focus on how innovations can be integrated in the streets and neighbourhoods of cities, aiming to an inclusive society. The students of the Inclusive Cities Programme exchange their knowledge in the interdisciplinary group. The disciplines vary between management and governance, strategies, industrial ecology, spatial design and product design. The Inclusive City Programme focuses on embedding the principles of the circular economy in the built environment. The research being carried out by the students can be divided into three research directions: 1. Spatial interventions and urban planning 2. Social interaction, inclusion and participation 3. Circular and inclusive governance and business models The students work together with local residents, the municipality, other relevant local stakeholders and professionals. This way the students know what challenges are in place. The students’ contribution to both location-specific data and a general understanding of the dynamics studied can be found in this magazine.
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Power to empowerment: How policy can stimulate local energy initiatives for the energy transition Emmy van Gennip MSc Economics and Management of Network Industries The transition towards the Dutch goal of 14% renewable energy by 2020 is slow. Concerned citizens are organising themselves in decentralised local energy initiatives. In the case of Rotterdam, the local energy community is still in its initial phase, with an estimated 39 initiatives in 2015. Local policymakers need a clear overview of - and insight into - the local energy initiatives to stimulate their development.
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In the past, one of the most significant barriers to the transition to renewable energy in the Netherlands has been the national energy policy. Rather than a top-down national approach, using a bottom-up analysis allows for research on the potential of smaller energy stakeholders. Currently, existing regulations make it difficult for energy initiatives to start up. Due to the diversity and novelty of these initiatives, they often do not make an impact on the long-term energy transition. Local policymakers should support the development of decentralised energy initiatives, to ensure that they become independent and that they thrive in the long term. How can we support and motivate more citizens to start local energy initiatives? This research analyses the needs of these initiatives in Rotterdam and formulates policy recommendations to drive local energy initiatives further to contribute to the energy transition.
Methodology This research uses a sorting scheme to discover thinking patterns among stakeholders of different kinds of local energy initiatives in Rotterdam. Emmy collected statements from various stakeholders (see Figure 1) through interviews and ranked them by importance. Next, the statements were
sorted and listed to find distinctive perspectives among the energy initiatives. The aim of this clustering is to understand the different needs of each category of stakeholders.
Results Three main perspectives emerged amongst the stakeholders; the perspective of ‘typical’ local energy initiatives, the ‘business-oriented’ energy initiatives, and the ‘in-between’ local energy initiatives.
Typical local energy initiatives This perspective, shared by three respondents, states that local policy should shift from a traditional topdown approach to a bottom-up approach. This means providing local policy support should include providing transparent data, relevant contacts, subsidies, coaching and raising awareness amongst citizens. Business-oriented local energy initiatives This perspective was shared by three respondents, who state that local policy should provide support such as creating networking opportunities and providing subsidies that increase their competitive edge. They further suggest that encouraging flexible contracts would help local energy initiatives to compete with bigger, more established energy producers. Flexible contracts can take the form of agreements
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Figure 1: Examples of statements collected from stakeholders.
where the results are fixed, but the working plan is flexible with space for rearranging the rules.
In-between local energy initiatives This perspective was shared by two respondents, who share a mixed stance on local policy. On the one hand, they consider that municipal support is helpful, but on the other hand, they avoid it due to the added complexity of cooperation. They view local energy initiatives as independent organisations that would benefit from: appreciation, short-term subsidies, help with licensing and awareness amongst citizens. Therefore, to motivate the development of local energy initiatives, Emmy’s research suggests that local policy should pay attention to: creating a strong energy community, bottom-up policy support and short-term financial support.
Impact Small actors play an essential role in
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energy transition since the change from the traditional fossil-fuel system to a renewable energy system makes decentralisation possible. This means the transition will change the structure of the energy system from big central producers to smaller decentralised producers. This decentralisation has a potential social impact; local governance can create self-sufficient energy systems in smaller communities with local energy initiatives.
Key takeaways: What can the municipality do to stimulate local energy initiatives?
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If there is an active energy community with citizens and small and large enterprises, then other local initiatives are motivated to enter the energy market. The municipality has an essential role in communicating about the energy market to ensure better communication between citizens so that more people become involved in energy projects. Making public data accessible can help here.
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Promote a strong energy network
Short-term financial contributions are recommended, as opposed to long-term, because this stimulates the independence of energy initiatives.
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Support local initiatives
Short-term financial support
The municipality must create and sustain bottom-up support for local initiatives by interacting directly with a contact person, creating flexible contracts, and providing coaching sessions and access to municipal facilities and spaces. The municipality can also set up a central information point.
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“Van gas los”: The transition of the Dutch heating system One of the main sources of Dutch CO2 emissions is the heating of residential buildings by natural gas. Around 95% of the entire residential building stock is connected to the gas grid. In order to achieve the 2050 goal of climate neutrality, the Dutch heating system must shift away from natural gas to more sustainable technologies. There are currently very few studies on the full impact of different aspects for implementing alternative heating systems. Jim van der Kooij and Teun Verhagen studied the Dutch heating system transition using different approaches, to contribute to the research addressing this complex problem. They analyse the sustainable heating alternative scenarios with low-temperature heating networks, hightemperature district heating and heat pumps. The Merenwijk in Leiden is used as a case study. Teun’s study focuses on the environmental, technical and financial impacts of non-natural gas heating technologies for the transition of residential heating systems. Jim’s research compares the same heating technologies, but he explores a part of the energy transition that is often overlooked: the environmental impact of the materials used in the heating system transition.
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Environmental impact of the materials used in the heating transition Jim van der Kooij MSc Industrial Ecology More attention needs to be paid to making the heating system transition sustainable on all fronts. Complying with sustainable heating technology requirements usually means there is a need for well insulated and ventilated buildings, which increases material demand and environmental impact.
Methodology To provide insight into the environmental impacts of the materials required for replacing the current gas system with more sustainable alternatives, Jim uses GIS and a
simplified life cycle analysis in his thesis. GIS stands for Geographic Information System and is used to process, analyse and display all forms of spatial data (see Figure 1). A Life Cycle Assessment is a technique to assess the environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product’s lifetime. Jim uses a simplified LCA, simplifying the life cycle to the first phase: cradle to market. The main spatial data layer of Jim’s model contains data about the geographic location and characteristics
Figure 1: In Jim’s research, the GIS software ArcGIS is used to combine spatial data (Figure 1.1 and 1.2) with different material inventories (Figure 1.3) and an environmental impact database (Ecoinvent) to create an overview of the amount of material needed for the transition (Figure 1.4), and calculate the environmental impact of these materials within the Merenwijk.
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Figure 2: Adjustments required per heating scenario.
of each building within the Netherlands. For characteristics such as construction year, building surface and number of dwellings within the building, he made assumptions on what and how much had to change for each individual building per heating alternative (see Figure 2).
Results The material requirements differ sharply for the three alternative heating technologies. Heat pumps score relatively low on all material group requirements except for insulation materials, while high temperature district heating (HTDH) does not require any insulation materials. The material demand for the low-temperature district heating scenario is high in all material groups (see Figure 3). The scenario of low temperature district heating (LTDH) performs worst in terms of environmental impact because of the large amount of insulation material
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needed, which contributes to 60% of the climate change impact (see Figure 4). The environmental impact of the material demand can be recouped. For example, for the heat pump the material demand causes 14.6 million kg CO2 emissions. Considering a heat pump’s lifetime of 20 years, there would be a reduction of 136 million kg in CO2 emissions in fuel use compared to the current natural gas scenario. This means that the environmental impact of the materials will be recovered within two years of operation.
Figure 3: Material requirements for the current heating system and four heating scenarios.
Figure 4: Climate change impact (in millions kg of CO2 emissions) of the materials required per heating scenario.
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The trade-offs of different heating technologies for residential areas Teun Verhagen MSc Industrial Ecology To reach the goal of an 80% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2050, the total residential heat consumption would need to be cut drastically. The Dutch government is leaning towards implementing large-scale heating networks and reusing waste heat from non-renewable energy powered industry. However, there are doubts about whether or not this is the most viable solution. The goal of this paper is to describe and quantify the effects of different heating technologies and solutions. Three scenarios with three different technological combinations are used: 1. The first scenario is based on the warmtevisie (Leiden heating vision) as developed by the municipality of Leiden, in which low temperature (LT) heating networks and heat pumps are combined. 2. The second scenario only utilises heat pumps to envision a situation without capacity from extra heating networks. 3. The third scenario implements low and high temperature heating networks as the main heating source.
buildings because there is an ongoing discussion about who is going to pay for the investment necessary to achieve the heating transition per type of building (e.g., house owners or the municipality). The calculations are made at a building level, and then scaled back to district level scenarios. The term trade-offs is used to describe the improvements and drawbacks of the technologies implemented in comparison to natural gas.
4.4 CO2 savings per year Figure 12: the CO2 savings per building for the scenarios.
These alternative heating system technologies are evaluated on their technical, financial and environmental aspects to determine their impact, and the trade-offs of the overall implementation are analysed.
Methodology This analysis focuses on residential
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Figure 1: CO2 savings at building level in the Merenwijk for the first scenario.
Scenario Scenario
Investment Investment home home owners/residents owners/residents (million euros) euros) (million
Investment Investment heating heating network companies network companies (million euros) euros) (million
Total investment Total investment costs (million costs (million euros) euros)
Leiden Leiden heating heating vision vision Scenario (LTDH + + heat heat pumps) pumps) (LTDH
Investment home 51.1 51.1 owners/residents (million euros)
Investment heating 25.6 network25.6 companies (million euros)
Total investment 76.7 76.7 costs (million euros)
Heat pumps Heat pumps Leiden heating vision (LTDH + heat pumps)
58.3 58.3 51.1
0 0 25.6
58.3 58.3 76.7
Heating Heating networks networks Heat pumps
29.7 29.7 58.3
48.6 48.6 0
78.3 78.3 58.3
48.6
78.3
Table 1: Total investment costs per scenario.
Heating networks
29.7
Scenario Scenario
Average time (years) Average payback payback time (years)
Leiden Leiden heating heating vision vision (LTDH (LTDH + + heat heat pumps) pumps) Scenario
7.9 7.9 Average payback time (years)
Heat Heat pumps pumps Leiden heating vision (LTDH + heat pumps)
45.1 45.1 7.9
Heating networks networks Heating Heat pumps
119.2 119.2 45.1
Table 2: The payback times per scenario without government grants are rather high; they do not fit within the 2050 scope of reaching energy neutrality in the Netherlands. In order to fit within Heating networks 119.2 the 32 years, governmental parties need to invest 17-57 million euros. In the Netherlands, a mortgage is generally taken out for 30 years at the most, so payback times for investment in heating technologies should not be longer than this.
Scenario Scenario
Total CO CO22 savings savings per per year year (million (million kg) kg) Total
Leiden Leiden heating heating vision vision (LTDH (LTDH + + heat heat pumps) pumps) Scenario
7.5 7.5 Total CO2 savings per year (million kg)
Heat Heat pumps pumps Leiden heating vision (LTDH + heat pumps)
6.8 6.8 7.5
Heating Heating networks networks Heat pumps
4.9 4.9 6.8
Heating networks
4.9
Table 3: The total CO2 reduction is highest in the Leiden heating vision scenario, which combines LT heating networks and heat pumps. The CO2 reduction is lowest in the low and high heating networks scenario, which corresponds with the use of the high-temperature heating networks and their relatively high CO2 emissions.
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Scenario
Costs per ton CO2 spread out over 32 years (euros/ton CO2)
Carbon tax necessary to reach 32 years payback time (euros/ton CO2)
Leiden heating vision (LTDH + heat pumps)
€ 319
€ 184
Heat pumps
€ 268
€ 80
Heating networks
€ 499
€ 374
Table 4: To compare CO2 savings with investment requirements, a CO2 price comparison was made. The carbon price will be a minimum of 30 dollars per ton per year between 2018 and 2050. The table shows that without a carbon tax, it will be significantly more expensive to reclaim the costs. The heat pump scenario will be profitable if there is a carbon tax of 80 euros per ton or higher, which is within the range for 2018-2050.
Results The heating vision (warmtevisie) of the municipality of Leiden - a combination of heat pumps and low-temperature heating networks - is an excellent plan from the viewpoint that it has the highest CO2 savings. However, this scenario also requires the highest overall investment with 76.7 million euros, 8.1% of the average property valuation (WOZ) value or 22,000 euros per residential building. Taking into account the financial investment, payback times, average WOZ values and the CO2 savings, lowtemperature heating networks and heat pumps are most suitable to provide the Netherlands with a transition towards sustainable heating. A carbon tax makes all alternative scenarios financially more feasible.
Impact Jim and Teun’s studies show how complex the trade-offs of sustainable heating technologies are for a neighbourhood, and how the best technology depends on the type of building. Cities should therefore
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carefully research these tradeoffs and choose the alternative tailored specifically to individual neighbourhoods. The models created by Jim and Teun are transferable; they can be applied to different cities, as long as open data about buildings is available. Their research shows that accelerating the innovation of recycling measures is essential for the transition towards a sustainable heating system. The material demand for insulation will exceed the global market supply, and the insulation market is currently under underprepared.
Key takeaways: Recommendations for the Dutch heating system
1.
The implementation of low-temperature heating networks and heat pumps is key if the Netherlands wants to achieve the 2030 and 2050 climate targets.
Target LT-heating and heat pumps
2.
In all scenarios, the materials needed for insulation, trenches and surface boxes are the main contributing factors to the material demand. Insulation material like glass and glass wool contribute the most to climate change impact in terms of CO2(eq). Therefore, it will become increasingly important to look into recycling methods.
3.
Recycle insulation
Without financial assistance from the municipality or the government for homeowners, achieving the residential heating system transition within 32 years is difficult. A carbon tax will make every sustainable scenario more feasible.
Financial assistance is required
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The current trajectory of the energy transition in Rotterdam Robert Dykstra MSc Global Business and Sustainability The city of Rotterdam has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. To attain the goal of carbon neutrality, the city must transition towards a sustainable energy supply. An essential element of the transition is to have the appropriate infrastructure in place to support renewable energy. Different parties have already been working for two decades to work on the energy transition, which encompasses numerous initiatives to implement renewable energy, innovative energy management systems and resilient infrastructure. It is important to evaluate these initiatives and assess the progress of the transition.
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Methodology This study contributes to the literature about ongoing energy transitions, using Rotterdam as a case study. Robert conducts his study by interviewing various parties involved in the energy transition and analyzing common factors and challenges. The case methodology used to evaluate Rotterdam’s energy transition includes an analysis of stakeholder reports and in-depth interviews. The theoretical framework, the ‘transitions management framework’, focuses on the speed, size and goals of the development.
This theoretical framework states that transitions take place on three different levels. Innovation starts at the micro level, a niche, where change occurs between individual actors and organizations. As momentum for this new socio-technical innovation grows, a transition begins at the meso level, the regime, which includes communities and regimes. As the transition settles itself into the socio-technical regime, it starts to influence the macro level, the landscape, and forms a ‘new normal’. At this point, the new innovation has become the mainstream (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Visualisation of the transition dynamics, adapted from (Geels, 2002).
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Figure 2: Transition Management Levels, adapted from (Kemp et al., 2007)
In Robert’s study, the focus is Rotterdam, so only transition dynamics applicable to the micro and meso levels (niche and regime) are addressed.
Case study: Rotterdam In the case of Rotterdam, the leading institutions governing the energy transition are the municipality and Port Authority. Further, Rotterdam is home to many businesses, and there is active involvement of various stakeholders with numerous initiatives. Within each level of transition, stakeholders can engage with one another at strategic, tactical and operational levels (see Figure 2). Results It appears that Rotterdam is on the transition pathway of ‘realignment’; the new socio-technical innovations are challenging conventional energy systems. The four most significant barriers encountered by the stakeholders in the energy transition were finance, risk, complexity, and
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organisation. The solutions proposed by the stakeholders directly correspond to the barriers identified: a carbon tax as an incentive for companies to curb their emissions and seek cleaner alternatives, a legal framework supporting renewable energy, financial rewards for moving to renewable energy, increased cooperation and collaboration between stakeholders. The solutions identified show that stakeholders have an awareness of both the problems and the solutions in the energy transition, but, face organisational challenges in the implementation of these solutions. The challenges include management and access to technology.
Key takeaways: Recommendations to strengthen the energy transition
1.
Safety and security
To mitigate the risk involved in the transition, safety and security should be integrated into the core focus of the energy transition. This can be achieved by improving infrastructure to support alternative energy technologies, and, by lowering financial risks associated with transitioning. While this could reduce the speed of the energy transition, it will demonstrate to stakeholders that the complex energy transition process will result in a resilient energy infrastructure.
A formal legal framework would aid the implementation of alternative energy systems. By providing a legal structure with financial benefits for switching to renewable energy, companies may be incentivised to take initiative themselves to move to cleaner energy. An example of such a measure would be to implement a carbon tax as an incentive for companies to lower their footprint and switch to renewable energy.
3.
2.
A legal framework
Increased cooperation
Increasing collaboration between stakeholders and governing bodies will increase the exchange of information about the needs, challenges and tools available to make the energy transition easier.
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Securing the future of cobalt Global energy systems are undergoing systemic changes. This is resulting in an increasing demand for rechargeable batteries, which is expected to create a significant increase in the market for cobalt. The element cobalt is one of the ‘energy metals’, and is crucial to the success of many electrical applications. Cobalt is one of the critical raw materials used in the manufacture of batteries, which are needed for emerging technologies such as electric cars. Joanna Kotnis and Esther van de Camp tackled the subject of cobalt from different perspectives. While Joanna’s paper set the foundations for a substance flow analysis of cobalt at city level, Esther took a global perspective and researched the resilience of cobalt supply chains in the context of the electric vehicle revolution. Their complementary research leads to a more holistic understanding of cobalt material loops.
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E-mobility: securing a resilient cobalt supply chain Esther van de Camp MSc Industrial Ecology In recent years, governments have paved the way for electric vehicles. This has created high expectations for the rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which is expected to increase the demand for cobalt to 400% of current consumption levels in the coming four decades in this particular industry. Cobalt’s expected demand growth is giving cause for major concerns about its supply. Cobalt supply chains are vulnerable for the following reasons. First, cobalt is a companion metal: it is mostly produced as a by-product of nickel and copper. This generates a complex demand-supply relationship: cobalt’s supply largely depends on the supply of its host metals. Secondly, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), known for its political instability, is one of the largest sources of mined cobalt production. Thirdly, China, known for its material protectionism, dominates refined production of chemical cobalt, which is needed for the electric vehicle revolution. Finally, cobalt has a history of price volatility, which indicates that the supply chain is vulnerable to disruptions. The European Commission defined cobalt as a critical raw material, based on the two principles ‘high importance of uses’ and ‘questionable availability’. Esther researched the resilience of current cobalt supply chains, and how disruptions and resilience mechanisms create different problems or opportunities for different actors. She argues that what constitutes resilience can differ between actors.
Resilience is defined as: ‘the capacity (of a system) to supply enough of a given material to satisfy the demands of society, and to provide suitable alternatives if insufficient supply is available’. In practice, this means that both the supply and demand of cobalt need to have a certain elasticity, which allows the supply chain system to absorb supply or demand disruptions without significant price fluctuations.
Methodology ‘Whose resilience’ is a concept that is central to Esther’s thesis as she wants to specifically address the fact that different actors deal with different resilience and supply chains, and that all actors act contingent to their specific strategy and position. The explicit question of who has (and who does not have) resilient supply chains allows for a clearer picture of supply chain systems and system dynamics. For her analysis, Esther distinguishes three supply chain stakeholder groups, multinational supply, artisanal (small scale) supply, and from the demand side the multinational companies. The methodology consists of data collection in the form of interviewing people from the above-mentioned stakeholders. This will help provide answers to the research questions of how resilient current cobalt supply chains are, and how disruptions and resilience mechanisms create different problems or opportunities for different actors. Four mechanisms are mainly responsible for the resilience of supply chains in response to disruptions:
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diversifying supply, recycling, stockpiling to create a buffer, and substitution: a mechanism where one material is replaced by another (see Figure 1).
Results Esther concludes that globally the resilience of cobalt supply chains is overall low and that resilience depends on the stakeholders. In general, the resilience is low across the globe because of the lack of diversity in supply (only from the DRC and China) and because the other coping mechanisms like recycling and stockpiling do not work due to the fast-growing demand for cobalt. The mechanism that looks most promising in the near future is substitution. This involves cobalt substitution by nickel and is driven by the cobalt price (and the lower price of nickel). Her main approach was to question: ‘Whose resilience’? Esther stated that the rate of resilience depends on the stakeholder and his or her perspective.
From a geographic perspective, two processes in the supply chain are relevant: the mining and refining processes. Mining is geographically concentrated in the DRC, where more than one-half of world supplies originate. This makes it sensitive to disruption and leads to low resilience. For the process of refining, there is a difference in resilience between China, and Europe and Japan. China mainly supplies chemical cobalt and Europe and Japan mainly supply metal cobalt. China’s supply chains depend heavily on the DRC, whereas Europe’s and Japan’s supply chains are more diffuse. The electric vehicle revolution targets the demand for chemical cobalt rather than metal cobalt, which means that China’s supply chains are more directly impacted by the disruption than Europe’s and Japan’s supply chains. The business perspective shows a trend of pursuing robustness rather than resilience. Robustness does not involve the ability to adapt to dynamics; rather it seeks to maintain the original status of supply as strongly as possible.
Figure 1: Four methods for building resilience in supply chains.
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Critical raw materials in the city: Recycling perspectives for cobalt Joanna Kotnis MSc Industrial Ecology
Figure 1: Historically fluctuating cobalt price, adapted from (InvestmentMine, 2018).
There are many incentives for performing a substance flow analysis of cobalt at city level. Cobalt, a critical raw material, is facing increasing demand, yet is subject to fluctuating prices (see Figure 1) and vulnerability to social issues. This means that global supply systems may potentially be unable to cope with an increasing demand for cobalt, making it important to find alternative means for supplying the material.
Raw material can be obtained from primary virgin materials, extracted from the soil, or as a secondary raw material, extracted from waste flows. Urban waste is increasing, which poses environmental concerns, but it also creates a potential for urban mines where materials can be recovered. This potential forms the focus for Joanna’s research.
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Methodology To procure more information on cobalt availability, this thesis performed a preliminary substance flow analysis using The Hague as a case study. Substance flow analysis is an analytical tool to study and map stocks and flows of specific materials. The method is useful to show a raw material supply, where the biggest flows can be found, as well as the hotspots in their streams throughout the economy. The identified hotspots serve as a potential for metal recovery to increase metal production from secondary resources.
Results It was found that the leading sector in cobalt concentration is households, which accumulate the highest stock of this metal through various products. In offices, the highest inflow are electric cars. The construction sector has the lowest influence on the cobalt stock, since the quantities of the metal in products is very low compared to other applications.
Further, her model for a material flow analysis of cobalt in The Hague can be adjusted for other critical raw materials, as well as other cities. By increasing the production of critical raw materials from secondary resources, there will be a decreasing reliance on other countries for material supplies, allowing for an increasingly resilient supply.
Impact Joanna and Esther’s complementary research creates a more holistic understanding of cobalt material loops. Material supply chains are complex, therefore by separately studying different stages and integrating research perspectives, it is possible to move a step closer to developing a more thorough view of the supply chain. This provides a foundation for understanding how to close loops, increase efficiency and design out waste, with the aim of preventing a resource crisis as global demands rise.
It is clear from Figure 2 that inflows of cobalt (23,664 kg) from different sources surpass the outflows (8,691 kg) for 2015. This is due to increasing inflow of electric cars, which have not yet reached their end of life phase. Due to the lifetime of electric cars batteries (8 years) and the fact that electric cars gained popularity relatively recently, the outflow of batteries from this source is yet to come. The difference between total inflow and total outflow of Cobalt is a contribution to the stock in 2015 (14,972 kg). Furthermore, Joanna’s work shows that at urban level, recycling of cobalt is not feasible due to the lack of a constant scrap material inflow, but recovery at European level holds encouraging potential if there is strong cooperation between the countries to produce sufficient end-of-life material input.
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Figure 2: Sankey diagram of cobalt flows in The Hague in 2015 (in kg of Cobalt).
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Key takeaways: Securing the future of cobalt’s supply chain
1.
In the Hague, the leading sector in cobalt concentration is households, from electronic waste and electric car batteries. This means households should be the main point to address cobalt recovery initiatives.
Electronic waste and electric car batteries
2.
Recycling of cobalt at urban and global levels is not yet feasible due to a lack of constant material inflow, and, because of the price difference between the raw material cost and the higher cost of secondary metal production.
3.
Lower the cost of secondary production
Mapping a city’s material flows is very useful; it is the first step to create an overview of metal and material flows within an economy, which will help to create recycling opportunities.
Mapping material flows is essential
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4. Substitution as a mechanism for more resilience
The resilience of the global cobalt supply chain is overall relatively low, and it varies strongly between different supply chain stakeholders. Out of the four resilience mechanisms, (diversity of supply, recycling, stockpiling and substitution of material), substitution is the most promising resilience mechanism.
There is a bifurcation of cobalt supply chains into two supply chains on the refining level leading to differing levels of resilience and vertical integration. Electric vehicles demand for chemical cobalt rather than metal cobalt, will impact China’s supply chains more directly than Europe’s and Japan’s supply chains.
5.
Bifurcation in global supply chain
6.
Focus on resilience over robustness
Overall, at company level, the focus should be on how to pursue resilience - which involves the ability to adapt to dynamics - rather than robustness, which is what most companies do to maintain the original state of the supply chain.
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From intention to inaction: Why intention does not lead to recycling behaviour for millennials Kathrin Wendt MSc Global Business and Sustainability The generation born between 1980-2000, often referred to as ‘millennials’, are a generation particularly aware of environmental problems. An important way of reducing waste and contributing to reduced pollution is by recycling. While the majority of people know this and exhibit the intention to recycle their waste, their intentions are not translated into actions. Humanity’s waste production is taking a toll on the planet. It is imperative that society as a whole takes responsibility for their actions and is more conscious of their behaviour, particularly when it comes to the production of waste. With this research, Kathrin examines why awareness and intention among millennials do not lead to recycling behaviour.
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Studies on recycling tend to use quantitative research and focus on older generations. However, millennials play a big role in influencing the trajectory we are on for the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and waste. This thesis uses the ‘theory of planned behaviour’ (see Figure 1) and assesses qualitative data to investigate what drives an individual’s recycling behaviour. Planned behaviour theory states that specific action is driven by the intention to engage in it, however, in practice individuals still seem to fail to recycle despite having the intention to do so. In order to find out why there is this mismatch, the study looks at other variables other than ‘intention’ to explain the low recycling performance among millennials.
Methodology The city of Rotterdam was chosen as
the focal point of the study. Individuals were observed and interviewed when throwing their garbage away into one of the newly positioned recycle bins in the city centre. In order to find out what variables affect behaviour, conditions such as ‘past behaviour’ (habit) and ‘affective evaluation’, which is the feelgood aspect as a result of an action were also studied. Further, the ‘internal facilitating conditions’ variable, which encompasses general awareness and knowledge of how to perform a particular behaviour, and, ‘external facilitating conditions’, which includes ease of recycling and convenience of recycling, were assessed.
Results The research indicates that ‘intention’ is only one of four dimensions that influences recycling behaviour. Facilitating conditions, past behaviour
Figure 1: The Theory of Planned Behavior, diagram adapted from (Ajzen, 1991).
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Figure 2: Kathrin’s proposed model of recycling behavior.
based on habit, and, affective evaluation also play a role in predicting and explaining recycling behaviour. Facilitating conditions, in particular, affect the motivation of millennials to recycle even after they have already formed the intention to do so (see Figure 2). An example of facilitating conditions that stimulate recycling behavior would be the convenient placement of bins so that people can effortlessly find a bin and easily understand how it works. The study focused specifically on recycling in public spaces, but based on observations and interviews, it became apparent that there is no distinction between public and private recycling in the minds of most millennials. This means that the model universally explains the recycling behaviour for this group.
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Impact Many factors can stimulate recycling behaviour among millennials. Stimulating the behaviour can lead to recycling as a habit, and, the millennial generation can put forth a good example for future generations, which leads to improved waste management. In addition to this, in the bigger picture, the creation of a coherent national recycling strategy is vital. Currently, there are vast differences between recycling facilities not just within the city of Rotterdam, but across the Netherlands. A coherent strategy would increase the necessary knowledge and convenience for performing recycling behaviour, leading to higher rates of recycling across the country.
Key takeaways: How can the barriers to recycling be overcome?
1.
If individuals are not aware of recycling opportunities or do not know how to separate their waste correctly, they are not likely to do it. Even if they possess sufficient knowledge, the likelihood of recycling decreases if recycling is difficult and inconvenient. The municipality should increase the number of recycling bins, as well as increase clarity on how to use them.
Increasing convenience
An individual’s upbringing was found to be an essential variable: those who were taught to recycle from a young age associate positive feelings with the action. Individuals who are not in the habit of recycling are more affected by external facilitating conditions.
3.
2.
More education and awareness
Monetary incentives, convenience and ease of recycling play a more influential role in recycling behaviour for individuals who are not in the habit of recycling.
Incentives to new build habits
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Green infrastructure for urban resilience The scarcity of green infrastructure (urban vegetation) in cities has consequences on the capacity of the city to deal with the impacts of climate change. Urbanisation leads to an increase of soil sealing; the covering of natural soil surfaces with impervious (watertight) materials, which causes fragmentation of the natural environment, disruption and depletion of biodiversity, heat island effects (higher temperatures in urban areas in comparison with rural areas), and an increased risk of flooding. Green infrastructure is increasingly recognised as a tool to achieve resilient policy goals because of the multiple ecosystem services it can provide. Ecosystem services are the benefits that humans gain from the natural environment. Nadieh Kamp and Janneke van Oorschot look at green infrastructure in urban areas. To make cities more climate resilient, Nadieh looks at how policies can be made to stimulate the pro-environmental behaviour of inhabitants, such as stimulating the greening of gardens. Janneke takes a different approach, and her study presents a spatial approach to assess and monitor resilience and ecosystem services, identify priority areas for green infrastructure development, and analyse the effect of green infrastructure interventions.
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Prioritising the placement of green infrastructure Janneke van Oorschot MSc Industrial Ecology Ecosystem services are the benefits humans obtain from the natural environment, for example: climate and rainwater regulation. Policies regarding green infrastructure typically focus only on one ecosystem service. This is largely because models for assessing multiple ecosystem services lack transferability to decision making processes. This creates a gap between existing knowledge about ecosystem services and use of it in policy making.
The Hague and its capacity to provide a selection of ecosystem services. Three ecosystem services relevant for The Hague’s climate resilience were assessed: air pollution removal, increase of urban heat island effect and rainwater runoff mitigation. The main question studied was how green infrastructure can enhance The Hague’s resilience to air pollution, the urban heat island effect and rainwater runoff.
Methodology To address this gap, Janneke used a spatial planning approach to assess the availability of green infrastructure in
Land use maps were used to map the availability of green infrastructure. Literature was used to quantify the potential to provide services. The
Figure 1: Livability index per neighborhood in The Hague.
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Figure 2: Prioritization for green infrastructure development per neighborhood in The Hague.
concentration of particulate matter (PM10) was used as an indicator for air quality, the land surface temperature as an indicator for the urban heat island effect, and rainwater retention and runoff were calculated using an indicator termed the SCS runoff curve number. Besides indicators for climate resilience, the livability index (in Dutch “leefbaarometer”) was used to assess the social vulnerability per neighbourhood (see Figure 1). Using these ecosystem services indicators, the capacity of green infrastructure to provide ecosystem services was calculated and mapped as well as the priority given to these services. Neighbourhoods with more green infrastructure show greater resilience.
Results In the Hague, the neighbourhoods in the centre of the municipality showed the highest priority for requiring
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green infrastructure for all criteria, particularly in the ‘Schilderswijk-Oost’ neighbourhood (see Figure 2). However, trade-offs need to be made between high priority areas for the different criteria near the municipal boundary. For instance, some neighbourhoods showed a high risk of flooding but low priority for lower the urban heat island effect, while in other neighbourhoods it was the other way around. The analysis of green infrastructure interventions showed that green infrastructure development indeed contributes to growing urban resilience, either on a local (stormwater retention and cooling) or on a regional level (air quality improvement) and stresses the multifunctionality of green infrastructure.
Bridging the intention-behaviour gap with science-based nudges Nadieh Kamp MSc Industrial Ecology Since much of the city surface is not owned by the municipality but by the citizens, the decisions of inhabitants with regards to the design of their garden have a significant influence on the resilience of a city in terms of rainwater dissipation and other climate adaptation themes. The psychology of the citizens should, therefore, be taken into account in local ecological policymaking. Traditional policy instruments rely on citizen’s lack of knowledge as a starting point and assume conscious control and deliberation. Information and incentives are used to influence ignorance and support sustainable and rational choice making. However, many citizens still do not exhibit pro-environmental behaviour change despite being aware of - and claiming to be concerned about - climate change.
Methodology This research assesses how ‘nudging’, an alternative policy tool, can stimulate pro-environmental behaviour change for the greening of gardens. Nudges are indirect suggestions to influence decision-making by individuals. The nudge, manifested in the form of flyers (shown below), was designed using the ‘bounded-rationality framework’ to understand that people often do not make rational choices. To test the effectiveness of a nudge, a case study was conducted in a neighbourhood of Leiden. For the experiment, three types of flyers were distributed among 958 households, containing a nudge focusing on
social norms, personal norms or a control message. The experiment was based on the assumption that social and personal norms are important underlying psychological constructs for greening gardens. For example, incentives such as winning a prize (reward) and the idea of positively contributing to the environment (personal motivation) were tested. A survey was carried out to test the success of nudge designs based on scientific research. A panel of Leiden residents completed the survey (n=293) and the data has been used to validate the psychological constructs of greening gardens.
Results In themselves, nudges do not seem to be an efficient intervention to stimulate greening gardens. A strategy that combines the traditional policy tools and nudges is preferred as they complement each other. Sciencebased nudges are a valuable addition to traditional policy tools as a novel method to target pro-environmental behaviour change in individuals, and are thus a potential addition on the toolbox available to policymakers. Using complementary nudges, if welldesigned, can, therefore, generate a far broader effect than traditional policy tools alone. Regardless of which strategy is chosen, research is key in designing and implementing nudges in an efficient way.
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Key takeaways: How can the placement of green infrastructure be prioritised?
1.
In The Hague, neighbourhoods with the highest priority for greening were typically characterised by a high percentage of sealed surfaces.
Target places with sealed surface
2.
Multifunctional green infrastructure fosters urban resilience.
Aim for multifunctionality
3. Janneke: “While this study applies to the Hague, the model can also be transferred to other cities. Currently, the multifunctionality of green infrastructure is not fully recognised but there are a lot of ecosystem services, that is, benefits humans gain from the natural environment.”
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Key takeaways: Are nudges effective for stimulating the greening of gardens?
4.
One nudge does not fit all
Targeting an entire population with one policy tool is not feasible. The interventions should relate to the needs and goals of different groups within the targeted population. One nudge does not fit all and the government and other institutions should continue the research on group-specific policy strategies for stimulating pro-environmental change behaviour.
5.
Nudges can look promising in theory but often fail when put into practice. Nudges by themselves are insufficient to stimulate action. This alternative policy tool can be used as a supplementary tool, combining it with traditional policy tools where they reinforce one another.
6.
Nudges need to be reinforced
When the target group lacks intention, nudging as a policy tool is ineffective to bridge the intention-behaviour gap. Taking into account the underlying psychological constructs is of key importance.
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Circular urban agriculture: Where we are and where we could go Graham Browning MSc Industrial Ecology Cities are prime points of resource consumption and waste production, a major contributor to which is the food system.The widely practised urban linear economic structure amplifies the problems of city life, taking goods (such as food) from far-off places, using them for a limited time, and discarding them in such a way that cuts value chains. In other words, there is a mismatch in how much food urban areas consume versus what they produce within their own borders. Without proper material separation and composting, cities waste the economic potential held in food waste and other organic materials, which in turn has environmental and social consequences. Graham studies a potential solution: circular urban agriculture, a closed-loop, localized food system farmed in urban areas.
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Circular urban agriculture could address both the issues of the linear economy and the growing food needs of cities, while supporting sustainable strategies for cities to lower their negative environmental impacts. Graham takes The Hague as a case study due to its carbon neutrality goals and location in a highly productive agricultural area of the Netherlands. Her research assesses the current state of circular urban agriculture in The Hague, its potential for growth and possible future scenarios in which it could become a larger part of The Hague’s food system.
Methodology Graham’s research approach balances a technical perspective with policy and behavioural sciences. The contributing frameworks to this research are the Urban Harvest Approach, Strategic Niche Management and Backcasting. To understand the current state of circular urban agriculture in The Hague,
Graham interviews actors from three circular urban agriculture initiatives and analyses municipality data with indicators to calculate a baseline circularity level. These semi-structured interviews are then further analysed to assess the actors’ expectations, network formation and learning processes on an individual level, on the level of the current food system of The Hague, and on the level of the sociotechnical landscape of The Hague. Finally, information from the interviews with circularity experts, municipality representatives and the case studies themselves are used to develop a future vision for circular urban agriculture in The Hague.
Results In The Hague’s ‘biomass and food’ sector, many projects related to the circular economy were started but not completed, or have an unknown status because there is no data available (see Figure 1). From the case-study interviews, it was found that although
Figure 1: State of circularity projects in The Hague, adapted from (Potting et al., 2018).
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some individual initiatives practice internalized circularity, resource reuse on a larger scale is low. Graham’s research suggests that interactions between initiatives must grow in order to move circular urban agriculture from a niche to a regime practice. The current methods of arranging occasional meetings and partnering for small events is not effective, there needs to be some form of authority to regulate, oversee and further development. Furthermore, current initiatives rely too heavily on unstable customer bases like tours or educational visits. Urban farms must have consistent, produce-buying customers to stay afloat and create a business model around more than just education and social services. Food cooperatives could be a huge asset for recruiting new customers because they make produce more accessible. From a policy point of view, the municipality sends a strong message that they prioritize sustainability, but this research suggests that they lack the collaboration, clear plans for multi-actor involvement and policy investigations necessary to make a meaningful advancement in the field.
Multiple municipal departments should be represented and form a central point of communication for urban farmers and policies related to circular urban agriculture must be transparent and open to review.
Impact The world at large is leaning towards tech-driven agriculture, yet its feasibility is questionable due to high upfront costs. Urban agriculture in The Hague could become more circular by combining permaculture (selfsufficient agricultural ecosystems) and high-tech solutions based on specific neighbourhood needs and markets. More natural ways of producing food will be most promising, and with a focus on permaculture there is also the element of reconnecting with nature and vegetative, health-creating liveable cities, along with an awareness about food. Transforming the scope of circular food production from strictly city-based or rural-based to using all of the local resources available could result in a more rapid transition and a more stable sector in the face of sustainability challenges.
“The Cities Hub gave me inspiration. The thought of having people from other universities and courses working on similar projects, bouncing ideas off the others, and getting another perspective on my topic was very encouraging. The Cities Hub also provided the opportunity of attending a lot of networking events to get in contact with local stakeholders. The local stakeholders were able to provide feedback on the concept and helped me to connect with more people for interviews. This improved my interpersonal skills. Working on a real case study pushed me out of my comfort zone, which kept me engaged and driven, and helped me connect with my city: The Hague.”
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Key takeaways: How can urban agriculture become more circular?
1.
Transparent communication within government structures and amongst people at grassroots levels can be fostered by emphasising regular, structured meetings between the parties and informal open table discussions, rather than simply emailing.
Regular meetings between parties
2.
Current initiatives rely heavily on unstable customer bases like tours or educational visits. Food cooperatives could be a huge asset for building a consistent, producebuying customer base, and can further fulfill the role of a “testing site” to see how residents react to the circular urban agriculture produce, thereby increasing social acceptance and interest.
3.
Envisioning a common goal
Food cooperatives
Appointing a central reference person in the municipality for circular urban agriculture would streamline communication and knowledge, increase transparency and ease of reference for supportive policies and aid in creating a common goal that can be followed up regularly.
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Samenvatting
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Hoe kan de gemeente Rotterdam lokale groene energie-initiatieven van burgers ondersteunen? Emmy van Gennip MSc Economics and Management of Network Industries Om de transitie naar een duurzaam energiesysteem te bevorderen, loont het om te kijken hoe gemeenten lokale energie-initiatieven kunnen stimuleren en ondersteunen. Emmy van Gennip onderzoekt hoe de gemeente Rotterdam burgers kan ondersteunen en motiveren energieinitiatieven te starten. Door middel van interviews met stakeholders komt zij tot een drietal aanbevelingen voor de Gemeente Rotterdam.
Belangrijkste aanbevelingen 1. Promoot een sterk energienetwerk met burgers, waardoor andere burgers sneller zullen participeren met een eigen initiatief. De gemeente zou ervoor moeten zorgen dat burgers weet hebben van dit energienetwerk en dat de onderlinge communicatie tussen burgers makkelijk kan verlopen. Publieke data toegankelijk maken kan ook helpen. 2. Zorg voor een beleid van bottom-up ondersteuning met een contactpersoon, flexibele energie-contracten en coaching sessies. De gemeente zou ook een centraal informatiepunt kunnen opzetten. 3. Korte termijn financiĂŤle ondersteuning heeft de voorkeur tegenover lange termijn ondersteuning, omdat dit laatste afhankelijkheid in de hand zou werken.
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Rotterdam onderweg naar de energietransitie: waar staan ze nu? Robert Dykstra MSc Global Business and Sustainability De energietransitie in Rotterdam zit in een heroriëntatie-fase. Dit betekent dat nieuwe energiesystemen de huidige energiesystemen onder druk zetten. Robert Dykstra heeft interviews met verschillende stakeholders gehouden en heeft de gemeenschappelijke uitdagingen en problemen geanalyseerd.
Belangrijkste aanbevelingen De drie belangrijkste belemmeringen waarmee de stakeholders in de energietransitie te maken hadden, waren veiligheid en zekerheid, complexiteit en financiën en organisatie. 1. Veiligheid en zekerheid: om het risico van de transitie te beperken, moeten veiligheid en zekerheid worden geïntegreerd in de focus van de energietransitie. Dit kan worden bereikt door de infrastructuur te verbeteren die alternatieve energietechnologieën ondersteunt en door de financiële risico’s van transitie te verlagen. 2. Complexiteit en financiering: een formeel wettelijk kader zou de implementatie van alternatieve energiesystemen helpen. Door een juridische structuur te bieden met financiële voordelen om over te schakelen op hernieuwbare energie,worden bedrijven gestimuleerd om zelf initiatief te nemen om over te stappen op schone energie. Een voorbeeld van een dergelijke maatregel is de invoer van een CO 2belasting. 3. Organisatie: meer samenwerking tussen stakeholders en bestuursorganen zal de uitwisseling van informatie over de benodigdheden, uitdagingen en hulpmiddelen vergroten om de energietransitie te vergemakkelijken.
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Van gas los: welk scenario leidt ons naar een duurzaam en financieel haalbaar verwarmingssysteem? Een groot deel van de CO2 uitstoot in Nederland wordt veroorzaakt door het verwarmen van woningen van huishoudens. Ongeveer 95% van onze woningvoorraad is aangesloten op het gasnet. Om in 2050 klimaatneutraal te zijn, moet het verwarmingssysteem van aardgas af en overgaan op duurzame technologieën.
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Teun Verhagen MSc Industrial Ecology Teun Verhagen onderzoekt drie verschillende scenario’s, namelijk het 1) scenario van de “Leiden Warmtevisie”, waarbij lage temperatuur warmtenetten en waterpompen worden gecombineerd, 2) het scenario waarin alleen warmtepompen worden gebruikt en 3) het scenario met hoge-temperatuur (circa 85°C) en lage-temperatuur (circa 55°C) warmtenetten. Hij onderzoekt de financiële impact en de milieu impact van deze technologieën. Dit doet hij op gebouwniveau in Den Haag, omdat het type gebouw invloed heeft op de genoemde indicatoren. De tijdspanne is 32 jaar de periode tussen 2018 - 2050.
Jim van der Kooij MSc Industrial Ecology De energietransitie zal ook leiden tot vraag naar nieuwe materialen, omdat er een gehele nieuwe infrastructuur moet worden aangelegd. Jim van der Kooij doet een case study naar de materiaalbehoefte en milieuimpact van deze materialen van de bovengenoemde drie technologieën: warmtepompen, hoge-temperatuur warmtenetten en lage-temperatuur warmtenetten.
Belangrijkste aanbevelingen 1. Zonder financiële steun van de gemeente of de overheid voor huiseigenaren, zal het binnen 32 jaar heel moeilijk zijn om de overgang van het verwarmingssysteem voor woningen te realiseren. Een CO2-belasting zal elk duurzaam scenario haalbaarder maken. 2. De implementatie van lage temperatuur verwarmingsnetwerken of warmtepompen is cruciaal als Nederland de klimaatdoelstellingen voor 2030 en 2050 wil bereiken. Voor deze technologieën is er echter één uitdaging, zoals aangetoond door Jim: de wereldwijde vraag naar isolatiematerialen zoals glas en glaswol zou het aanbod overtreffen. 3. Om het meest duurzame verwarmingsalternatief (warmtepompen of lage-temperatuur verwarmingsnetwerken) te kunnen implementeren, is het belangrijk om naar recyclingmethoden te kijken, omdat de wereldmarkt onvoldoende materialen kan leveren.
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Hoe kunnen we onze kobalt toevoer veilig stellen? Joanna Kotnis MSc Industrial Ecology Esther van de Camp MSc Industrial Ecology Wereldwijde energiesystemen ondergaan systemische veranderingen. Dit resulteert in een toenemende vraag naar oplaadbare batterijen, wat naar verwachting een aanzienlijke groei van de kobalt markt zal veroorzaken. Joanna Kotnis en Esther van de Camp hebben het onderwerp kobalt vanuit verschillende perspectieven aangepakt. Het onderzoek van Joanna legt de basis voor een analyse van de materiaalstroom van kobalt op stadsniveau. Esther neemt een mondiaal perspectief en onderzocht de resilience van kobaltketens in de context van de e-mobility revolutie.
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Belangrijkste aanbevelingen 1. In Den Haag zijn huishoudens de sector met de grootste kobaltconcentratie: van elektronisch afval tot batterijen voor elektrische auto’s. Voor het terugwinnen van kobalt zou de gemeente daarom het beste kunnen focussen op huishoudens. 2. Recycling van kobalt op stedelijk en mondiaal niveau is nog niet haalbaar vanwege een gebrek aan constante instroom van materiaal en vanwege het prijsverschil tussen de grondstofkosten en de hogere kosten van secundaire metaalproductie. 3. Het in kaart brengen van de materiaalstromen van een stad is nodig om inzicht te krijgen in de beste recycling mogelijkheden. 4. De resilience1 van de wereldwijde toeleveringsketen van kobalt is over het algemeen relatief laag en varieert sterk tussen verschillende stakeholders in de toeleveringsketen. Van de vier resilience mechanismen (diversiteit van levering, recycling, opslag en substitutie van materiaal) is substitutie het meest veelbelovende resilience mechanisme. 5. Over het algemeen zou op bedrijfsniveau de nadruk moeten liggen op hoe resilience moet worden nagestreefd - wat betekent dat er moet worden gekeken hoe er kan worden gereageerd op dynamieken op de markt. Bedrijven focussen zich vooralsnog vaak op robuustheid, wat betekent dat ze de oorspronkelijke status van de toeleveringsketen proberen te behouden.
Wij gebruiken het woord resilience in plaats van veerkracht, omdat dit inmiddels ingeburgerd is in het gemeentelijk jargon. 1
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Recyclen onder millennials: waarom leidt intentie niet tot daadwerkelijke actie? Kathrin Wendt MSc Global Business and Sustainability De generatie die geboren is tussen 1980 en 2000, ook wel ‘millennials’ genoemd, is een generatie die zich bijzonder goed bewust is van milieuproblemen. Een effectieve manier om afval te verminderen en bij te dragen aan minder vervuiling is door recycling. Hoewel de meeste millennials dit weten en de intentie hebben om hun afval te recyclen, worden hun intenties niet omgezet in acties. Kathrin Wendt onderzoekt waarom bewustzijn en intentie bij millennials niet leiden tot recycling gedrag.
Belangrijkste aanbevelingen 1. Als individuen zich niet bewust zijn van recyclingmogelijkheden of niet weten hoe ze hun afval correct moeten scheiden, zullen ze dit waarschijnlijk niet doen. Zelfs als ze over voldoende kennis beschikken, neemt de kans op recycling af als recycling moeilijk en lastig is. De gemeente moet meer afvalbakken plaatsen en de duidelijker communiceren over hoe mensen het afval moeten scheiden. 2. De opvoeding van een individu bleek een essentiële variabele te zijn: degenen die vanaf jonge leeftijd hebben geleerd om te recyclen, hebben hier positieve gevoelens bij. Mensen die niet de gewoonte hebben om te recyclen, worden meer beïnvloed door externe faciliterende omstandigheden, zoals monetaire prikkels, gemak en toegankelijkheid.
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Circulaire stadslandbouw: waar staan we en waar moeten we naar toe? Graham Browning MSc Industrial Ecology Steden zijn belangrijke punten van consumptie en afvalproductie, inclusief grote hoeveelheden voedselconsumptie en -afval. De stedelijke lineaire economische structuur vergroot de problemen van het stadsleven; neemt goederen van verre plaatsen, gebruikt ze voor een beperkte tijd, en gooit ze weg. Een meer circulair en lokaal voedselsysteem zou zowel de problemen van de lineaire economie als de groeiende voedselbehoeften van steden aanpakken. Daarom onderzoek Graham Browning of en hoe het mogelijk is om stadslandbouw in Den Haag circulair te maken. Ze onderzoekt wat de status is van de huidige stadslandbouw en evalueert wat er nodig is om de circulariteit te verbeteren.
Belangrijkste aanbevelingen om stadslandbouw circulair te maken: 1. De gemeente zou een duidelijke samenwerkingsplan moeten opstellen door middel van een autoriteit aan te stellen die de samenwerking tussen verschillende partijen kan faciliteren. Meerdere gemeentelijke afdelingen moeten hierin vertegenwoordigd zijn en het moet een centraal communicatiepunt vormen voor stadsboeren. 2. Den Haag kan meer circulair worden door permacultuur en high-tech oplossingen te combineren op basis van specifieke buurt behoeften en markten. Hiervoor zou het begrip stadslandbouw kunnen worden opgerekt, om ook het Midden-Delfland gebied mee te rekenen. Om deze circulaire lokale stadslandbouw (met Midden-Delfland) op te bouwen, moeten de gemeente en de lokale boeren gaan samenwerken. 3. Creëer Voedselcoöperaties: Huidige initiatieven zijn sterk afhankelijk van onstabiele klantenbestanden zoals rondleidingen of educatieve bezoeken. Voedselcoöperaties kunnen een enorme troef zijn voor het opbouwen van een consistent klantenbestand dat producten koopt en kunnen de rol van een ‘testlocatie’ verder vervullen om te zien hoe bewoners reageren op de circulaire stadslandbouwproducten.
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Groene infrastructuur in Den Haag: hoe krijgen we meer groen en welke wijk heeft prioriteit? Janneke van Oorschot MSc Industrial Ecology Nadieh Kamp MSc Industrial Ecology De schaarste van groene infrastructuur (stedelijke vegetatie) in steden heeft veel gevolgen. Verstedelijking leidt tot een toename van de bodemafdekking; het bedekken van natuurlijke grondoppervlakken met ondoordringbare (waterdichte) materialen. Bodemafdekking heeft negatieve effecten op het vermogen van de stad om de gevolgen van klimaatverandering op te vangen: het veroorzaakt hitte-eilandeffecten (hogere temperaturen in stedelijke gebieden in vergelijking met plattelandsgebieden) en een verhoogd overstromingsrisico. Groene infrastructuur wordt steeds meer erkend als een hulpmiddel om de resilience1 beleidsdoelen te halen vanwege de vele ecosysteemdiensten die het kan bieden. Ecosysteemdiensten zijn diensten van de natuur voor de mens, zoals het bieden van verkoeling, opvangen van water en zuiveren van de lucht. Nadieh Kamp en Janneke van Oorschot kijken naar groene infrastructuur in stedelijke gebieden. Om steden klimaatbestendig te maken, onderzoekt Nadieh Kamp hoe gemeentelijk beleid milieuvriendelijk gedrag van inwoners kan stimuleren, zoals het groener maken van tuinen. Zij analyseert hierbij het beleidsinstrument nudging. Nudges zijn indirecte suggesties om de besluitvorming van individuen te beĂŻnvloeden. Janneke van Oorschot presenteert in haar onderzoek een ruimtelijke benadering waarin ze de resilience en ecosysteemdiensten van een gebied beoordeelt en monitort, gebieden identificeert waar de groene infrastructuur prioriteit zou moeten krijgen en waarin ze het effect van de groene infrastructuur-interventies analyseert.
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Belangrijkste aanbevelingen 1. In Den Haag werden buurten met de hoogste prioriteit voor vergroening meestal gekenmerkt door een hoog percentage bodembedekking. De wijken in het centrum van de gemeente hebben de hoogste prioriteit voor het implementeren van groene infrastructuur, met name in de wijk ‘Schilderswijk-Oost’. 2. De analyse van de groene infrastructuur-interventies toont aan dat een interventie inderdaad bijdraagt aan het bevorderen van stedelijke resilience in deze gebieden, en benadrukt de multifunctionaliteit van ecosysteemdiensten van de groene infrastructuur. 3. Het is niet haalbaar om met één nudging-instrument een hele populatie te bereiken. De interventies moeten betrekking hebben op de behoeften en doelen van verschillende groepen binnen de beoogde populatie. Eén nudge past niet bij iedereen en de overheid en andere instellingen moeten verder onderzoek doen naar groepsspecifieke beleidsstrategieën voor het stimuleren van gedrag. 4. Nudges kunnen er in theorie veelbelovend uitzien, maar falen vaak wanneer ze in de praktijk worden gebracht. Nudges op zichzelf zijn onvoldoende om actie te stimuleren. Dit alternatieve beleidsinstrument kan worden gebruikt als een aanvullend instrument op traditionele beleidsinstrumenten. 5. Wanneer de doelgroep de intentie mist, is nudging als beleidsinstrument niet effectief om de kloof tussen intentie en gedrag te overbruggen. Het is daarom van cruciaal belang om rekening te houden met de onderliggende psychologische constructies.
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Get in touch
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Meet the graduates
Emmy van Gennip MSc Economics and Management of Network Industries
Teun Verhagen MSc Industrial Ecology
Jim van der Kooij MSc Industrial Ecology
Robert Dijkstra MSc Global Business and Sustainability
Esther van de Camp MSc Industrial Ecology
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Joanna Kotnis MSc Industrial Ecology
Kathrin Wendt MSc Global Business and Sustainability
Janneke van Oorschot MSc Industrial Ecology
Nadieh Kamp MSc Industrial Ecology
Graham Browning MSc Industrial Ecology
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Meet the Cities Hub
Fenna Plaisier Lead Communications f.c.plaisier@cml.leidenuniv.nl
Tjerk Wobbes Coordinator Inclusive Cities Programme
Benjamin Sprecher Coordinator Resilient Cities Programme
t.wobbes@plein06.nl
sprecher@cml.leidenuniv.nl
Cities Hub Magazine 2019 Edited by Fenna Plaisier and Shivaani Harmsen Designed by Ankita Singhvi
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Centre for Sustainability The Leiden•Delft•Erasmus Centre for Sustainability is an interdisciplinary research centre in which three universities join forces: Leiden University, Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University Rotterdam. We work together to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy. We believe that this transition asks for a systematic and holistic research approach. Researchers from different disciplines work together. And we have to reach out to stakeholders from practice to understand the problems we have to tackle. That is why we have developed an open research format in our so-called ‘Knowledge & Innovation Hubs.’ You can visit our website at: www.centre-for-sustainability.nl You can find the full theses at: www.centre-for-sustainability.nl/master-theses-cities-hub
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